Yahoo Lifestyle Yes, Timothée Chalamet's Shockingly Long Fingernails in “A Complete Unknown ”Are Really His Own
The actor confirmed to Fandango that he grew out his "claws" to play Bob Dylan, who famously wore long nails
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Timothée Chalamet shares details on growing his nails to play Bob Dylan in 'A Complete Unknown'Timothée Chalamet nailed his impersonation of Bob Dylan right down to his grooming.
In a Fandango interview clip shared to TikTok, the actor, 28, talked about growing out his fingernails to become the American singer-songwriter in the biopic A Complete Unknown (out Dec. 25).
“They got stronger over time. They would chip at first. That must be some bodily process, like your body just gets used to… by the end they were like claws,” he told the outlet.
His co-star Elle Fanning, who plays Sylvie Russo, a character roughly based on Dylan’s girlfriend in the early 1960s, Suze Rotolo, confirmed that Chalamet did “grow them out” as they filmed.
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Timothée Chalamet filming "A Complete Unknown" in Hoboken, New Jersey on May 28. 2024Director James Mangold went as far as comparing Chalamet’s nails to the talons of a vampire in a Dec. 19 interview published by Business Insider.
"Yeah, he was growing them," he told the outlet. "If you look earlier in the movie, there are some scenes where they aren't as long, but by the end, he had some full-on Nosferatu going on."
As noted by Business Insider, there’s been a lot of chatter around Chalamet’s hands (a TikTok video focused on his nails alone garnered close to 1 million views), but not a lot has been confirmed about why Dylan actually kept his nails unclipped in real life. One theory suggests that he might’ve used his long tips to pluck or strum the strings on his guitar, which is common practice.
Related: See the Cast of Bob Dylan Biopic A Complete Unknown Compared to the Real-Life People They Play
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Bob DylanBehind the scenes, Chalamet did a lot more than focus on nail grooming.
In wardrobe, he made more than 60 costume changes and opted to wear a subtle nose prosthetic and various sideburn lengths to demonstrate the passage of time.
Chalamet even continued to aesthetically pay homage to Dylan during the film's press tour, attending the Dec. 13 N.Y.C premiere dressed as Dylan when he appeared at the Sundance Film Festival premiere of Masked and Anonymous in 2003.
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Timothée Chalamet dresses up as Bob Dylan circa 2003 for the New York City premiere of "A Complete Unknown"Plus, during the five years of production delays due to COVID-19 and industry strikes, he mastered the guitar and harmonica and shaped up his singing skills to portray the 10-time Grammy winner.
Despite all the hard work put into his transformation, the journey is something Chalamet, who is a 2025 Golden Globe nominee for best performance by a male actor in a motion picture, has decided to keep close to the vest.
"The whole thing was really just a sort of magical experience,” he told PEOPLE. “I don’t want to ruin it with words because, really, it’s deeply personal to me. I can say just being in that time period was awesome, and living that.”
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